Bong Joon-Ho
South Korea | 2006 | 119mins | Colour | Subtitled
The Host is based on a real event in 2000 when staff at a US military morgue in Seoul poured hundreds of bottles of chemicals down the drain and into the Han River.
Fast forward a number of years and a mutant creature arises from the river and begins to wreak havoc all around him. Worried that the monster might spread a deadly virus, the authorities lock down the city and detain anyone who has come into contact with it. Among the detainees is the Park family, the youngest of whom has been snatched by the monster.
Some of the best fun you’ll have in a cinema all year: shot with extraordinary confidence, effortlessly juggling moments of SF wonderment, white-knuckle drama, and pitch-black comedy, and featuring some state-of-the-art CGI effects, it’s enough to remind you why you started going to the movies in the first place – Edinburgh Film Festival |
